


Shopping Trip

by SloaneDestler



Series: T-Shirt AU [2]
Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux, Phantom - Susan Kay, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baby Gustave, Erik being Erik, F/M, Fluff, Love, Marriage, Married Life, One Shot, Slice of Life, Some Humor, Sweet, ayesha - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29035587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SloaneDestler/pseuds/SloaneDestler
Summary: Erik and Christine are dealing with being new parents, and she sends him on an emergency trip to the store. It goes about like you'd expect.
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera
Series: T-Shirt AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130111
Comments: 36
Kudos: 43





	Shopping Trip

**Author's Note:**

> I had a random thought and ended up writing this slice of life type story. It focuses mostly on Erik, but there is some E/C sweetness, too. These are the same characters from my fic Thanksgiving Dinner, but no need to read that one first. Enjoy!

Erik pulled into the parking lot and started looking for a spot, cursing his existence just a little bit. Having to make a trip to Walmart without Christine - early on a Saturday afternoon, no less - had just moved to the top of his list of worst nightmares. In fact, since he shopped in person very rarely, this was his first visit to a Walmart, although he had been to Target with Christine several times, since she seemed to enjoy “the experience” of that store. Erik didn’t exactly know what that meant, but if Christine was happy that was good enough for him.

He had considered going to Target for the list of things Christine had hastily scrawled for him while the baby cried, but it was so short that he thought he would just stop at Walmart since it was much closer to their home. Christine usually ordered their groceries online and then picked them up at the grocery store, but she had been so distracted with little Gustave not feeling well that she had forgotten several items off their last order. The best solution would have been for Erik to stay with the baby while Christine went to the store, but he had known better than to bring that up. One of the items they were out of was shampoo, which of course he didn’t use, and Christine had already cried once that day because of how greasy her hair was.

Erik supposed it was hormones, and he certainly didn’t blame Christine for anything she was going through as a result of bringing their son into the world, but privately he had to admit it was unsettling to have a wife and baby that seemed to be constantly crying.  _ He  _ was used to being the dramatic one in the relationship, so it definitely took some getting used to.

Finally pulling into a parking spot far away from the store - and from any other vehicles that might carelessly open their doors into his Bentley - Erik took a moment to review his short list again, trying to calm his racing nerves at the thought of willingly entering a building with so many people. He could do it, he told himself. He could do it for Christine and Gustave. He only had to acquire the herbal tea Christine liked, milk, diapers, shampoo, and cat food. The last was an oversight on his part. While they normally only fed Ayesha premium food purchased from the veterinarian’s office, with the stress of a sick baby Erik had only realized she was nearly out of food late this morning - just as the clinic would have been closing for the day.

He could have simply picked the lock at the clinic and taken the food they needed - evading their primitive security cameras would have been no problem, and he could have even left money behind the counter to appease Christine, but in her current state he knew better than to even suggest such a thing. Although it went against every fiber of Erik’s being, his darling could subsist on inferior fare until the first thing Monday morning. With the reminder that he was doing this for all three of them, Erik squared his shoulders and exited the car. 

However, he felt nearly overwhelmed before he even entered the building. There were people seemingly everywhere in the parking lot, and cars driving both directions, sometimes only taking the directional arrows as suggestions - or not. Then, when he reached the part in front of the store that was clearly designated for pedestrians, an unpleasant-looking woman in a minivan nearly ran him over, and then had the nerve to honk quite rudely, as though he were at fault. She was very fortunate that he was both distracted by the ordeal ahead of him and reformed from his past habits, or Erik would have been tempted to use her license plate number to locate her later and teach her the value of being polite.

Five items, he reminded himself. He only had to pick up the five items on his list, and then he could go home to his wife and baby. Surely such a small number of items would only take him a few minutes to procure.

*****

Inside, there were people...everywhere. Seeing the aisle for coffee and tea ahead, Erik attempted to maneuver the cart he required to obtain Christine’s items down the aisle, but two women had stopped their carts next to each other and were visiting about mundane occurrences as though they had all the time in the world. Maybe they did, but  _ he  _ certainly didn’t, and they ought to be more respectful of that -  _ he  _ had a wife, baby, and cat waiting for him at home. He stood there with his cart, not wanting to have to resort to speaking to anyone, trying to decide if he should go around and approach the tea display from the other side. But what if the next aisle over was just as crowded when he tried to go down it? While he was still deciding, one of the women finally noticed him, looking up with a smile that nearly turned to a grimace when she saw his mask, but she made a game effort to appear normal.

“Oh,” she exclaimed a little too loudly, looking away slightly, “excuse us! We were so busy catching up we didn’t see you there!”

Erik nodded and mumbled something incoherent, pushing past them as she moved her cart, wondering what they were going to say about him when he was out of earshot. This was precisely why he dreaded going out in public, especially without Christine.

Suddenly, a thought hit him. When he was with Christine, people tended to look at him with a little less suspicion, but he was all alone in a crowded store wearing a mask. Would the employees think he was there to rob them?

He quickly got the answer to that question, however. An employee was standing directly in front of the tea that Christine required, slowly browsing over a list as he stood next to multiple blue tubs that took up much more room than a standard shopping cart. After a few minutes, Erik cleared his throat, hoping the boy would take the hint. With body language that practically screamed his annoyance  _ at Erik,  _ the worker moved out of the way without ever once looking at him. It was almost as though he dreaded the thought of having to interact with him in any way, which suited Erik just fine.

Keeping an eye on the overhead signs for the other items on his list, Erik moved toward the back of the store where he knew he could find some of the milk that Christine was drinking by the glassful these days. Although he didn’t see anything else he required, he was able to acquire a carton of milk with little trouble. Pausing to check his phone in case Christine had messaged him, he saw he had already been in the store for twenty minutes. He had hoped to be done and on his way home in that amount of time, he thought with annoyance.

From where he was standing after he reached the side aisle, Erik could see the infant section. He was able to locate the diapers in just a few moments, and thankfully in this department the tired-looking parents also buying baby items seemed to want to get what they needed and move on quickly. Ready to move on to find his last items, he saw what seemed to be a combined toy and blanket with a rabbit’s head attached to a soft cloth. Unable to resist, he snagged it from the rack as he walked past, hoping Gustave would like it.

Now, where to find cat food and shampoo? Trying to approach it in a systematic manner, he passed all sorts of items from electronics to toys to automotive supplies, but there was no sign of the things he actually needed. After criss-crossing nearly the entire store, Erik finally located the cat food, which somehow managed to be nearly as far across the store from the milk as was possible. Unsure what brand would be best, even though he was certain none of it was good enough for his darling, he finally selected a small bag of one of the most expensive kinds, since Ayesha only needed enough to get through the rest of the weekend. 

Even though nothing about this hellish experience was amusing to him, Erik had a choke back a sarcastic laugh when he saw the name of the product. Fancy Feast, indeed, he thought as he passed a selection of treats. Almost without thinking, he grabbed a package and added it to his cart, briefly pausing to add a second one.

Now nearly done, he only had to find shampoo, which didn’t prove too difficult as it was directly between the pet food and the checkout area, but again every aisle of this section was clogged with shoppers and their carts, and as it wasn’t labeled like the food section of the store, he had to endure far too many strange looks until he could finally find the product Christine had written down.

Once he had found everything his family - the thought of _his family_ giving him some much-needed resolve - required, Erik made his way to the self-checkout area, only to find a waiting line several shoppers long. And as though this entire experience hadn’t been painful enough, he was unfortunate enough to line up behind a mother who was doing her best to ignore a toddler who seemed to be screaming for a toy he had seen in the store.

Erik seriously considered ducking out of the line, but several more people had already come up behind him, and that would mean even longer until he could get back home. Although it wasn’t usual for him, he found himself feeling a bit of sympathy for the stressed-looking mother, even as the child’s screams grated on his already shaken nerves. Erik of course had no idea what the toy was that the child was demanding, but he made a mental note to never let Gustave be exposed to Paw Patrol, if this was the kind of reaction it elicited. Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to keep it a secret from him. He would have to remember to tell Christine, and maybe she would be pleased that Erik was putting so much thought into fatherhood, he thought, straightening his shoulders.

At long last, one of the registers opened up for him to use. As he scanned his items, Erik noticed the chocolate and peanut butter candy that Christine favored. Grabbing two, he scanned them along with the rest of his items. After swiping his credit card, he was finally on his way out of the store.

After realizing he had exited the store from the opposite end of where he had entered it, Erik finally finished his trek across the parking lot, only to find that someone had parked directly next to the driver’s side of his Continental, even though there were multiple empty spaces all around the two vehicles this far from the store.

Restraining his annoyance at the idiotic parking choice, Erik stowed his purchases in the trunk, and opened his door, barely able to fit his skeletal frame in the space allowed by the other vehicle. Closing his eyes briefly, he opened them and looked at his phone. Noting that there were still no messages from Christine, he cringed when he saw that he had been inside the store for an hour. No wonder he felt nearly ready to tear apart at the seams.

*****

The only thing that prevented Erik from calling Christine on his drive home was the possibility that she might be getting some much needed sleep if she had managed to get Gustave to nap. He badly needed to talk to her after that harrowing experience, but for her sake, he could wait.

When he finally pulled into the garage next to Christine’s new SUV, Erik exhaled and let his masked forehead rest on the steering wheel for a minute in relief. Collecting his spoils from the trunk, he entered the code to unlock the door to the house and deposited everything on the kitchen table, intending to come put everything away after he saw his family. After a quick glance to ascertain that Ayesha still had a full bowl of food and placing the milk in the refrigerator, Erik picked up one of Christine’s candy bars and moved silently into the house, not wanting to wake either her or the baby if they were sleeping.

When he reached their bedroom, Erik paused in the doorway for a moment to take the scene in front of him into his memory. Gustave lay sweetly sleeping in his little bassinet, while Christine was curled on her side on the bed, fast asleep. To complete this scenario that once would have seemed like an unattainable dream to him, Ayesha was curled up on the bed near Christine’s feet.

When Erik silently moved onto the bed, careful not to disturb Christine, Ayesha blinked her blue eyes at him in annoyance before getting up and turning around to lie down again, this time with her back facing him. Silently chuckling at his little diva’s clear message, Erik removed his mask and gently nestled his face into Christine’s brown curls. Even though she had cried earlier over needing to wash it, it still seemed perfect to him.

A short time later, Erik felt her wake up. Obviously sensing him behind her, Christine rolled on her back and looked up at him. “Hey,” she greeted him sleepily.

Remembering the chocolate he was still holding in his cool hand, he handed it to her, noticing the pleased look in her lovely eyes that he had remembered her in this small way. “Hey, yourself,” Erik returned, leaning over to give her a brief kiss.

Christine rolled onto her side and slid an arm around his lean waist, cuddling into him as Erik returned her embrace. “I see you got Gustave to sleep,” he observed quietly, holding her close to him.

“Yes, finally. How was Walmart?” Christine asked. “Did you get everything on the list?”

Erik opened his mouth to tell her how terrible it had been, but he stopped himself just in time. If he complained, what if it prevented Christine from asking him to help her in such a way in the future? She already did so much for him as well as their baby and pet that he would hate to have to put any more stress on her in the future if he could help it.

“It...wasn’t that bad,” he lied, feeling only a little guilt. Yes, he had promised never to lie to her again, but what little instinct he possessed when it came to Christine told him that this was an exception to that rule. “It was busy, but I did get everything you wanted.” There, those two things were both true.

Erik sensed he had done the right thing by partially concealing the truth when Christine hummed happily and pressed a kiss to his bare cheek. “Thank you,” she said, nuzzling her face against his. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but I appreciate you doing it for us. I love you, Erik”

Feeling his heart clench as his sweet wife treated his terrible face so gently, Erik swallowed the lump in his throat, managing to reply, “I love you, too, Christine. And for the three of you, it was worth it.”

Remarkably, that wasn’t a lie.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated!


End file.
